Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Shortages And Backlogs Continue To Plague States Trying To Ramp Up Testing

Although testing has increased considerably, many say it's still not enough. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth is rolling out a self-administered test for patients to try to protect health workers on the front lines of the outbreak.

The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Communities Struggle To Deal With Coronavirus Testing Backlogs
Despite efforts to ramp up mass testing for the new coronavirus this week, many cities and states are facing more shortages and backlogs as demand surges. Nearly a month into the outbreak, local officials are increasingly taking matters into their own hands so they can obtain critical equipment and grasp the extent of the virus’s spread in their communities. That includes working with private labs and forging direct relationships with test suppliers on the other side of the world. (Frosch, Paul and Mai-Duc, 3/25)

NBC News:
American Samoa's Coronavirus Conundrum: No Way To Test
As the coronavirus was rapidly spreading across the continental United States last week, a person living thousands of miles away in American Samoa developed what appeared to be symptoms of the virus. Health officials In the U.S. territory located deep in the South Pacific rushed to determine if its first potential COVID-19 case would turn out positive. But they had one problem: they couldn’t analyze the samples. (Georgiev and Kaplan, 3/25)

The Wall Street Journal:
New Coronavirus Test Tries To Reduce Risk For Health Workers By Letting Patients Swab Selves
Health-services giant UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH 6.68% is rolling out a coronavirus test that patients can self-administer, potentially reducing the risk to health-care workers as testing quickly expands around the nation. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday included the new methodology in its guidance to the nation’s medical workers. A UnitedHealth clinic in the hard-hit Seattle area began using it that day, and the company said it plans to implement the test nationwide. (Carlton, 3/26)

The New York Times:
Lawmakers Question Start-Ups On At-Home Kits For Coronavirus Testing
Three companies that rushed to market unauthorized kits for at-home coronavirus testing face new questions from lawmakers in Washington. On Wednesday, two House Democrats, Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois and Katie Porter of California, sent letters to the chief executives of Carbon Health, Everlywell and Nurx, asking them to explain their business and testing practices. The companies had marketed kits designed to allow consumers to collect their own saliva, throat swabs or deep nasal swabs at home and send the samples to labs to be tested for the virus. (Singer, 3/25)

Kaiser Health News:
Trump’s Boast About U.S., South Korea Coronavirus Testing Misses The Mark
Boasting about his administration’s response to the coronavirus crisis — and arguing the outbreak would soon be under control — President Donald Trump claimed that recent American efforts to test widely for COVID-19 surpass those of other countries. “We’ve done more tests in eight days than South Korea has done in eight weeks,” Trump said during a March 24 virtual town hall hosted by Fox News, reiterating a statement made just moments before by Dr. Deborah Birx, the head of the White House coronavirus response. The statement was repeated during the White House briefing that evening. (Luthra, 3/25)

Billings Gazette:
Hospitals Urged To Split COVID-19 Testing Kits To Stretch Resources
The state lab has been processing samples the same day they're received and and immediately report any positives to local public health officials and the provider that ordered the test, Jon Ebelt, spokesman for Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, said by email on Wednesday. But as the virus spreads — Gallatin County has now seen the state's first cases from community spread — the need for testing increases. To meet that demand, DPHHS has advised health-care providers to split up their test kits. (Rogers, Hall and Michels, 3/25)

Billings Gazette:
Yellowstone Health Officials Urging People Not To Use Rapid COVID-19 Tests
The Food and Drug Administration has not authorized any test available to purchase for testing at home for COVID-19, according to the release. The rapid tests look for the presence of antibodies that are produced as part of the immune response to a virus. However, antibodies may not be detectable for three to seven days after a person is infected. During this time, a person could be infectious even if the test produces a negative result. (Hall, 3/25)

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